Thursday, February 16, 2012

KOREAN CULTURE: The First Full Moon Festival (4)

Now that a tug of war contest (Juldarigi)
is over, it’s time to carry on another ritual to wish for good harvests and
abundance. The ritual is called Jisinbapgi
(지신밟기) which translates to “Stepping
on the Spirits of Earth,” and is also called Madangbapgi (마당밟기,
“Stepping on the Courtyard”), Maegwi (매귀(埋鬼), “Burying the Spirits”),
or Geollip (걸립(乞粒), “Begging for Rice”).1Jisinbapgi is traditionally carried out
starting from the first day of the Lunar New Year through the fifteenth (Daeboreum), or any time they need to
collect money or rice to use for the village celebrations and festivities. The meaning behind this ritual is to ward off
evil spirits while stepping on the good Earth Spirits and to bring in
blessings, happiness, and peace for the whole village all year round. The ritual becomes the talk of the village while
preparing for it on their own accord, and the funds (money and rice) they raise
through it are used for the purposes of the public interest.

The farmers’ folk band gathers together at the mouth of their village, at
the village well, or at the tributary junction of the village river. In ancient Korea, the parade was headed by Sadaebu (사대부(士大夫), “high officials”) and
followed by the hunters and others wearing various masks called Tal (탈) then lastly by the farmers’ folk band. The parade heads first to the village head’s
(or the tong2head’s
nowadays) house then to the haves’, with the farmers’ folk band performing Nongak (농악) that narrowly translates to “farmers’ music” – the band
plays such musical instruments as Jing
(징, “large gong”), Buk (북, “drum”), Ggwengwari
(꽹과리, “small gong”), and Jango (장고, “hour-glass shaped drum”).

1.Geollip
(걸립(乞粒)) originally refers to the act of
begging for rice (and also money).
Whenever a Buddhist temple needed funds, a pack of Buddhist monks paid
a visit to each and every house of the village, offered a Buddhist chanting
and invocation, and then were offered rice or money in return. It also refers to a ritual of Jisinbapgi.

2.
A tong is the second-lowest
city administrative unit or prefecture.

When the Jisinbapgi team enters
into the house of each family, they step firmly and thoroughly on every corner
of the courtyard, then the kitchen, the platform for earthen crocks (containing
soy sauce, soy bean paste, chili pepper paste, and so on), the storage shed,
and then the toilet shed, dancing and chanting, “Good, good Earth Spirits,
expel the evil spirits and minor demons from this place and let them stay deep
underground! Let thousands of happiness
and tens and thousands of blessings come on in to this place!” The people of the village try to get ahead of
one another in having the Jisinbapgi
team over to their house. If the team happens to skip the visit to their house,
they will completely freak out. After
the ritual is over, the owners of the house offer the Jisinbapgi team foods (including rice cakes) and drinks as a token
of their sincere gratitude. The Jisinbapgi team, the family of the house,
and the spectating crowds all become as one while having a ball.

When all the rituals in the daytime are over, it’s time to light up the
fire! The ancient Korean farmers
gathered together to carry out such fire rituals as Daljiptaewugi (달집태우기, “Burning the Moon House”), Gwibullori (쥐불놀이, “Setting Fire to Catch
Rats”), or Hwaetbbulssaum (횃불싸움, “Torch Fight”). These pastimes or games are in fact fire-worshiping
rituals as the gist of the ancient Korean philosophy is the sacredness of Nature; and in
various cultures (such as Korea, southern China, or Baltic Europe), the farmers traditionally perform rituals of setting
fire, dancing and drumming around it in hope of good harvests and abundance.

The ritual starts at dusk as the ancient farmers build a straw or pine
twig heap that looks like a tepee or tipi; and it reaches a crescendo when the Full Moon
appears as an entire circle in the sky and the farmers set the house on fire in
order to ward off evil spirits and ill fortune and bring in blessings and luck. This tepee look-alike house made with straws
or pine twigs is called Daljip (달집,
“Moon House”) and the ritual is called Daljiptaewugi (달집태우기, “Burning the Moon House”).1 The ancient
Korean farmers believed scorching the moon would prevent droughts hence carried
out the ritual in earnest hope of timely rains and breezy winds, i.e., a climate
favorable to agriculture. Besides, this
ritual fulfils the desires and aspirations of the ancient Korean farmers for
peace and stability in their village, using the banishing and purifying power
of the sacred fire that burns up all the evil spirits and impurity.

Even though the exact origin and history of Daljiptaewugi is unknown, but since the
Full Moon is the very essence ofDaeboreum,
we can assume this ritual is deeply rooted in Korea’s agricultural
culture: one, the moon epitomizes female,
birth, fertility, creation, and abundance; and two, as Korea’s agriculture is
based on the lunar, or Chinese, calendar which is a combination of astronomy (especially,
the moon’s cycles) and geography through observation and exploration, the moon
symbolizes the revolutions of the spheres of the universe, the order of time, the
changes of the season, and the principles of nature. Needless to say, on JeongweolDaeboreum or Sangweon (in which sang
means “top” and weon “best” or “No. 1”)
when we can see the first full moon of the year, the magical power of the moon
reaches its apex and this is why the Korean farmers perform various kinds of
the moon-worshiping rituals such as Yongalddeugi
(용알뜨기, “Scooping up the Dragon’s
Egg”), Dalmaji (달맞이, “Welcoming the first full moon”), Daljeom (달점, “Lunar Divination”), or Dalbureum (달불음, “Soaking the moon”).

Manguribul and Dalmanguri are the words resulted from
the mispronunciation of Mangweol. Dalbullori
and Dalggeusilleugi indicate that
the purpose of the ritual is to scorch the moon. Donghwa
means a village fire that burns up all the diseases and demons. In other villages of Korea, it is called Haedonghwa (해동화, 解凍禍or解凍火) which means “removing ill-fortunes of the village” or “a
fire that thaws all the frozen, wintry things.”

When JeongweolDaeboreum is imminent, all the men from the
village start working together to build the cone-shaped Moon House or Daljip with pine twigs and/or
straws. The pine twigs and/or straws are
either brought in by the workers or collected from village families except for
those in mourning, those with a mom in the postpartum period, or those regarded
defiled. Daljip is usually built either in the village square or on a
mountain or hill ridge where they can see the Full Moon rise. At sunset, when they get Daljip ready for the ritual, all the villagers gather together in
front of it with a light heart, buoyed up with hope and good resolutions, waiting
for the Full Moon to rise into the sky. Finally
when the moon rises in the east, all the people start shouting, “Moon Fire! Moon Fire! Let’s watch the moon! Let’s scorch the moon!” and set the Moon
House, Daljip, on fire. Then they dance around the burning Moon House
to the rhythm of the beat rendered by the farmers’ folk band and pray that all the
evil spirits and demons may be banished from their village. (The sound of burning bamboo stems the
farmers placed in the Moon House is also believed to scare them away.) This is
the most magical moment of this ritual when they are in full accord with Nature.

Daljiptaewugi

It is believed that the first person to see the Full Moon rise on the
day they perform Daljiptaewugi ritual
will have the best of luck all year. The
Korean farmers practice divination from how the Moon House burns: If it burns
very vigorously, only good things will happen to their village; if it burns
very slowly or the fire dies down, it is considered ominous sign of
disasters. In some regions, it is
believed that the more smoke the burning produces or the more the smoke covers
the moon, the more abundant the year’s harvest and yields will turn out. They also predict their fortunes according to
which direction the Moon House will fall: If it falls toward the east or toward their
village, it is considered a sign of good harvests; if it falls toward the west
or to the opposite side of their village, it is considered ominous and disastrous.
(In some regions, it is believed to the contrary; they’d like to have the Moon
House fall to the opposite side of their village since it is considered lucky.) The Korean farmers take the remnant coals
from the burnt Moon House to toast beans and eat them since they believe it
will prevent skin diseases and strengthen their teeth.